WATCH: Teacher surprises St. Louis middle school students in return from US Navy active duty

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ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - It had been nearly a year since the now 8th-grade students at All Saints Academy - St. Norbert saw Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Koehler – their 7th-grade teacher. 

He left in March 2019 for active-duty deployment with the U.S. Navy as part of the Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa in the African nation of Djibouti. Koehler says he was responsible for creating contingency plans in case of disaster relief, embassy defense and other emergency situations. 

You can watch the surprise, as he walked into the gym on Thursday during the faculty vs. 8th-grade volleyball game and hear from some of his students.

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